I’ve been reading a very informative article in CAR Magazine this morning which helps to identify running costs for Electric vehicles and they have also provided some great comparisons. I’ve given you a brief overview in this blog of their findings.
Their first comparison was the Renault Zoe against the Nissan Leaf. They did a 66 mile round trip – they mention that its important to note that these cars were driven by different people with different driving styles. The Nissan Leaf’s comparison was done during the winter months and during colder months batteries aren’t as efficient.
Renault Zoe cost per mile 6.1p Renault Zoe commute cost £4.03
Nissan Leaf cost per mile 4p
Nissan Leaf commute cost (estimated) £2.64
The same 66 mile trip was used for the VW Golf GTE plug-in hybrid V’s Toyota C-HR (non-plug in) hybrid.
VW Golf GTE cost per mile 11.5p
VW Golf GTE commute cost £7.66
Toyota C-HR hybrid cost per mile 13.4p
Toyota C-HR hybrid commute cost £8.84
Basically the above findings indicate that when you are talking about hybrids, electric cars are usually approximately 50% cheaper. However when you compare the running costs of a diesel or petrol car there will be less of a delta.
The next comparison was for a Citroen C3 which is similar to the Renault Zoe, but it has a 100bhp 1.6L turbodiesel engine V’s a Suzuki Swift which has a 90bhp 1.2L petrol engine, driven very efficiently.
Citroen C3 BlueHDi 100 cost per mile 10.6p
Citroen C3 BlueHDi 100 commute cost £7.00
Suzuki Swift 1.2 Dualjet 4x4 cost per mile 8.7p
Suzuki Swift 1.2 Dualjet 4x4 commute cost £5.74
Overall its clear that the Zoe comes out on top. Just to show how good the savings are, you can multiply those commuting costs by five for a working week and then by four to get the monthly costs. This gives you a rough idea of the money you would be saving with an electric vehicle.
Charging
The Zoe only needs to be charged at home each night due to its current usage. The cost of this will appear on your usual household electricity bill. The good thing is home charging is cheaper than public charging!
Benefits
In summary there are many benefits to owning an electric vehicle, obviously there is the environmental aspect but that aside electric vehicles receive tax grants and are also exempt from certain congestion charges. Also as demonstrated above one of the main benefits are the low costs of running an electric vehicle. Win – Win !
If you are considering owning an electric vehicle you may want to visit www.baileysnewcarsdirect.co.uk